Automatic fire-alarm



J. SWANBERG. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALAR APPLICATION FILEDVVMAY3I- I919.

1,367,899. Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- WW :II T EW JZMZw LSM/Infiery A; 4 H79 bv J. SWANBERG.

AUTOMATRC FIRE ALARM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31. 1919.

1,367,899. Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

3 SHIEETSSHEET 2.

di ZauSzl qiifiar .l. SWANBERG.

AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM. APPLlCATlON FILED MAY 31. 1919.

I 1,367,899. Patented lieb, 8, 1921.

3 SHEETS-S.HEET 3.

g bym UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS SWAN BERG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO THE SWANBERG COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-ALARM.

Application filed May 31, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I JULIUS SWANBERG a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire-Alarms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the'same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon ,which form a part of this specification.

My invention has reference more particularly to an improved individual fire alarm device, which is adapted to be constructed in a portable form, and is arranged to be auto matically set in operation when exposed to a temperature above a predetermined degree.

Fire alarm devices such as are used at the present time, are usually connected in a fire alarm or protective system to be controlled or operated from a distant point or outside source of energy, and are not only complicated and expensive to install and maintain in working condition but are not independent and readily transferable from place to place so that they are within the means of average users and capable of being located in any desired place at will.

T he object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective individual fire alarm device which may be readily mounted in any convenient place.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device of this character having improved mechanism for ringing a gong and which is adapted to be automatically set in operation by increase in temperature above a predetermined degree.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fire alarm device with improved means, releas ible by heat, normally holding the alarm mechanism from operation.

My invention also has other important objects which will appear from the following specification and the accompanying draw- I ings in which I have described and illustrated my invention in a preferred form.

(in the drawings: Figure 1 is a front view of a device constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a back view of the device.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the device.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 300,854.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the device with the gong removed.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View on the line 88 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged Vertical longitudinal view of the spindle that supports the gong.

Fig 10 is an enlarged front View of the knob that holds the gong in place showing the releasable disk for holding the ringing mechanism inoperative.

Fig. 11 is a side view of a modified form of construction.

shown in Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a top plan view of a part of the same device.

Fig. 14; is a section on the line 14l4 of Fig. 13.

A s shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 1, indicates a casing of circular form having front and rear walls 2 and 3, respectively, "secured together in any convenient manner, for example by the pins or bolts 4, and spacing ferrules 5, as shown. A frame plate 6, is secured diametrically within the casing between the front and rear walls 2and 3, and there is a short spindle 7, journaled centrally in the casing in the frame plate 6 and rear wall 3. A ribbon spring 8, is coiled about the spindle 7, and attached thereto at its inner end and the outer end is attached to one of the pins or bolts 4.

Secured on the front end of the spindle 7, is a ratchet wheel 9, and alarge gear wheel 10, is mounted loose on the spindle between the ratchet wheel 9, and frame plate 6, and has a spring impelled pawl 11, pivoted thereon to engage the ratchet wheel 9, so that rotation of the spindle 7, in one direction operates the large gear with it and in the other direction does not rotate the large gear. The large gear meshes with a pinion 12 on a shaft 13. mounted in the front wall 2 and frame plate 6, and thereby operates an escapement wheel 14, which operates an escapement lever 15, fixed on a shaft .16, extending through the front Wall 2, of the casing.

A pendulum 17, is pivoted to the upper part of the front plate 2, to swing so as to Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

strike a gong 18, covering the front of the device, at each end of its oscillating movement, and has a link 19, pivotally connected therewith near to the pivot thereof and connected with a long arm 20 which is secured to the spindle 16, to oscillate therewith. The

connection of the link 19, with the pendulum dered to receive the bell 18, thereon and is.

also threaded beyond theshoulder to have a knob or nut 22, turned thereon for boldin the bell in place.

' his post 21 is also bored out longitudinally to have a pin 23, mounted thereon to reciprocate, and has a slot 2 1 in the side wall 7 through which a pin 25, projects. The knob the case.

22, is constructed to hold the pin inwardly against the tension of a spring 26, which is compressed by the pin 23 against the bottom of the opening in the post 21, and when so positioned the pin 25 engages an arm 2'? of the lever, 20 at such a position to permit the pendulum 17 to hang freely and prevents op eration thereof by. the escapement mecha nism.

For winding the spring 8 so that the device is capable of operation, the spindle 7 has a socket 28 in the rear end or is other wise constructed to be engaged by a wrench or key, and to enable the operator "to determine the extent to which the spring is wound, I have provided a radial slot 30 in the rear wall 3, having a mark 31 at the side to'indicate the proper contracted position of the spring for full winding. This slot may be covered with a transparent covering if desired to protect the mechanism inside The back plate 3, is also provided at the top with a perforated ear 32, so that the device may be convenientlyhung on a nail or hook. V

For affording release of the pin 23, at the proper time to permit operation of the alarm, the knob 22, is provided with a disk 33, which is secured to the front of the knob by solder 34:, or other preparation which fuses or melts at the desired temperature, and the outer end of'the pin 23, bears against this disk so that when. the latter is released the pin is free to move under the tension of the spring 26. In orderto render the solder or material, which holds the disk 33 in place highly sensitive to the heat, and prevent diffusion of heat therefrom, a bushing 35 composed of heat non-conducting material is secured in the outer end of the knob 22, and has a ring 36 of metal embedded therein to whichthe solder or other fusible material will adhere. The outer end of the'pin 23, is also constructed with an insert or tip 3?, of heat non-conducting material, which engages the plate 33, so that the plate 33, ring 36, and solder or fusible connecting material 3 1, is isolated from any metal that would diffuse the heat absorbed thereby, and thus renders the controlling mechanism highly sensitive.

In Figs. 11 to 14 is shown a modified form of device for affording release of the pin 23, when the predetermined temperature has been reached. In this case release is obtained by means of a pair ofv overlapping plates 10 and 4:1 secured together by suitable fusible material. These plates are preferably formed so that when connected as shown in Fig. 1 1, they form a diamond. The advantage of this shape is that a relatively large overlapping area is obtained while at the same time the conduction of heat from the plates is a minimum owing to the fact that they are supported by their pointed ends only.

The end of one plate, as 11, bears against the heat insulator 37, inthe end of the plunger The end of the other plate 40 engages a recess in the central part of a cage 42, conveniently formed of two strips of metal crossing each other at right angles. The ends 1 1 of these strips are passed through apertures in a heat insulating plate 13 and clenched on the opposite side. This heat in sulating plate is threaded onto the end of the post 21. 7

Between the end of the heat insulator 37 and the plate 41 is arranged a strip of metal 45, indented at 16, at its center for thereception of the end of the plate 11, and forked at its ends 17 for engagement with shoulders 18, on two diametrically opposite members of the cage 42.

Another advantage of the construction shown in Figs. 11 to 14 is that free access of air is permitted to the plates 410 and 11 through the cage d2, sov that the device is very sensitive to temperature changes and will operateas soon the surrounding air has reached the predetermined temperature.

The operation is as follows:

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1 to 10, the knob 22 is secured on the end of the post 21 with the plunger 23 pressed thereby inwardly against the tension of the spring 26.

With the device shown in Figs. 11 to 1 1,

the diamond, formed of the plates lOand ting operation by turning the entire device so that the pendulum l7 hangs in a position to hold the lever and arm 27, so that the pin will clear the latter. The gong 18 is, of course, mounted on the post 21 previ ous to the attachment of the knob 22 so that the latter, when .s-rewed down in place, will hold the gong on the post.

The spring 8 is then wound by turning the spindle 7 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, with a-key or suitable tool, the degree of winding being observed through the slot in the back of the device. The winding of the spring rotates the ratchet 9, permitting the pawl 11 to ride over the teeth thereof, and as the gear 10, to which the ratchet pawl 11 is attached, is geared to the escapement mechanism and the latter held from operation by the engagement of the pin 25 with the arm 27, back movement of the ratchet wheel 9 is prevented and the spring held in the wound condition.

The device is then hung on a nail or hook in any desired location, and upon the occurrence of a fire, the rise in temperature above the predetermined point at which the solder or other material 34 fuses, melts the latter and releases the disk whereupon the pin 23 is projected forwardly bv the spring 26 and moves the 'pin 25 along the slot 24. away from engagement with the arm 27, thus releasing the arm 20 so that it may be operated by the spring powered escapement mechanism and swing the pendulum hammer 17 to strike the gong.

It will be observed that the pendulum acts as a governor to control the operation of the escapement mechanism and is arranged to strike the gong at each end of its oscillation so that the maximum of" etficiency is attained and the alarm will continue for a long period before the power of the spring is exhausted.

I am aware that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of my invention and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted further than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fire alarm comprising an alarm device. a member retractable against the tension of a resilient element for holding said device inoperative and means for holding said member inretracted position adapted to be released by exposure to a predetermined temperature including a diamond-shaped member formed of a pair of overlapping plates secured together by fusible material adapted to bear at diametrically opposite corners on the indicating device and retractable member respectively.

2. A fire alarm comprising an alarm device, a member retractable against the tension of a resilient element for holding said device inoperative and means for holding said member in retracted position adapted to be released by exposure to a predetermined temperature including a cage secured to the indicating device, and surrounding the end of the retractable member, and a diamond-shaped member formed of a pair of overlapping plates secured together by fusible material adapted to hear at diametrically opposite corners on the cage and retractable member respectively.

3. A fire alarm comprising an alarm device, a member retractable against the tension of a resilient element for holding said device inoperative, and means for holding said member in retracted position adapted to be released by exposure to a predetermined temperature including a cage surrounding the end of the retractable member, a heat insulating member secured to both the alarm device and said cage to prevent passage of heat from the latter to the former, a heat insulating contact member on the end of the retractable member and a pair of members se ured together by fusible material between the cage and the said contact member.

4. A fire alarm comprising an alarm device. a member retractable against the tension of a resilient element for holding said device inoperative, and means for holding said member in retracted position adapted to be released by exposure to a predetermined temperature including a cage surround n the end of the retractable member, a heat insulating member secured to both the alarm device and said cage to prevent passage of heat from the latter to the former, a heat insulating contact member on the end of the retractable member and a diamond-shaped member formed of a pair of overlapping plates se ured together by fusible material adapted to hear at diametrically opposite corners on the alarm device and said contact member respectively.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witne s s.

, JULIUS SWANBERG. lVitnesses:

CHARLES V. HILLS, J r. EARL M. HARDINE. 

